Wahab Rafiu Adeniyi and his wife, Famuyiwa Basirat were among the over 1,022 registered voters that participated in last Saturday’s presidential election at St John’s Primary School, Ward 5, Unit 4 and 5, Idi- Ose, Ona Ara Local Government Area of Oyo State.
But there was something seemingly odd about the couple.
As other voters jostled for vantage positions on the queue as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) presiding officer announced the end of the accreditation and preparations for the commencement of voting, at about 1.35pm, Adeniyi and his wife sat isolated on the bare floor of the corridor of one of the school classrooms.
With them were their two daughters, Rofiat and Wasilat, who are Primary six and JSS I pupils respectively.
Their seeming disinterest in the slight commotion among the crowd, however, soon became clear.
Both Adeniyi and Basirat were blind and apparently kept their distance to avoid being hurt in the struggle.
“We have already been accredited in the morning. We will wait and take our turn when voting starts,” the husband informed the inquisitive Daily Sun reporters when the pair were accosted.
Adeniyi and her spouse are both craft instructors at Omoyeni Special School in Adesola area of Ibadan where they teach handicapped apprentices in car carpet, church carpet, adire fabric and soap making.
Although he lives close to the school located at Orita Apeerin in the heart of the city, Adeniyi had travelled down to the polling area, Akanran, in the outskirts of Ibadan to join his wife in order to jointly exercise their civic right.
“That means this election must be very important to you,” Daily Sun reporter remarked.
“Yes, very important,” the head of the family replied.
“Why is it that important,” the newshound pursued.
“Well, so that things can improve,” Adeniyi responded, disappointing the reporter with his taciturn and laconic answers.
“Oh, does that mean you are dissatisfied with the situation in the country and would want a change,” the reporter tried again. But the blind man would not be caged. He simply smiled and then said: “Let us leave the issue of whether I’m happy with the situation in the country. The point is that things can be better and that is why we are voting for improvement.”
Basirat, also smiling, queued behind her spouse when questioned.
The polling centre is in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)) governorship candidate, Senator Teslim Folarin’s constituency, and that was where he voted.
Yet, what intrigued Daily Sun was how the couple would identify their preferred choices among the array of political parties on the ballot paper and thumbprint correctly when voting.
But to Adeniyi and Basirat, this posed no problem as they said they would rely on guides.
“How are you sure the guides would be sincere and trustworthy not to mislead you,” the reporter wanted to know.
To this, the wife smiled and touched their two daughters sitting beside her. “Who else can we trust but our own blood? We were brought here by them and they have been informed about the candidates of our choice. So they will be the ones to help us when casting our votes,” she said.
The Adeniyis are a special breed of disabled persons who believed their disability does not make them any less Nigerian and as such deserved to have a say in how the country is run.
Adeniyi, a native of Ibadan who lost his sight due to a measles attack at the age of five, trained at the Ogbomoso Vocational Centre for the Blind after a primary school education at St. Martins School, Ejitolu in Akinyele Local Government area of Oyo State. He met his wife who hails from Ikorodu, Lagos State when she came to the school where he teaches.
“We were neighbours. I live in Adesola and when she came to the school, she too rented an apartment close to me and that was how we met. We started as friends and it grew into a relationship and here we are,” Adeniyi informed.
The couple have five children and on inquisition by the reporter, all are healthy with no eye defects.
Adeniyi, who also trained at the Ikeja Nigeria Craft Centre, Lagos told Daily Sun of his remarkable ability to repair engines.
“This society sees every form of physical defect as a disability, but with the skills I have acquired, I repair generator sets and any other kind of engine with ease,” he said.
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